Off to a not so good start

 As you all know I re-started my fitness journey last week.  I had been to the gym Monday and Tuesday and did a little workout at home on Wednesday..everything was fine, despite my having had a cold for the past two weeks, I still got in some exercise  despite how crappy I felt.

Fast forward to the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day, I woke up about 2 or 3 in the morning to the room spinning out of control.

I mean even turning my head from one side to the other had me seeing stars.( just the day before my ear was clogged up and several attempts to clean it offered no relief)  I seriously thought about going to the ER.  I managed to make it to the bathroom without passing out but I had the most terrible case of dizziness and nausea ever.

Anyway, It did get better although ever since that day, I have  been extremely lightheaded with bouts of nausea here and there.  I can't seem to function for more than a few minutes before I feel the need to lie down.   I went to the doctors yesterday and was told I have sinus issues likely brought on by a cold virus.   I left with a prescription for Flonase and Claritan and also a word that it will take at least 5 days to kick in...Uuggh great, five more days of feeling like I've been in a week long drinking binge....this dizziness is the worse...so I've been sidetracked as far as the working out is concerned but there is good news.  I weighed in at 228 lbs last Monday and today I was 226.2 so something is working!


Anyway, here is this mornings weigh-in pic that I managed to take during the few minutes that  the lightheaded-ness was a bit bearable.

Getting it right,

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I've tasted the food of the gods, Michael Jackson

Yesterday, I was browsing through some photos of a trip to LA(Los Angeles, California) I took this year and came across some photos of a delicious meal I had.

I was eating "good" while in LA and was simply in awe of this Loch Duart Salmon ( roasted asparagus, preserved-lemon smashed potatoes and salmon with  fried capers in a miso cream sauce that I had at a Japanese restaurant. I mean I have literally  been craving that Salmon since I've been back and desperate enough to scour the internet in search of a duplicate recipe or some way to imitate that explosion of flavors at home.  I didn't take any pics of  what was the best meal that I've ever eaten in a restaurant.  The Miso Cream sauce....Oh that MISO CREAM SAUCE was heavenly! Yes, it was that dayum good!    Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos due to my forgetfulness after my early start on the raspberry-lemon drop martini's but I did take photos of the meal I am about to tell you about.

I am a Michael Jackson fan for those who may not have known so I ventured to Beverly Hills and stopped by Chakra( which is said to have been Michael's favorite restaurant)

Chakra  specializes in modern Indian cuisine and although I can't say that I've ever really had Indian food, I was feeling very adventurous that day.

Chakra touts a seductive dining room, fashionable late night bar, three unique private VIP rooms and an outdoor patio.  While the dress code could be considered casual(I didn't notice any "jeans" when I was there) the restaurant can be considered more upscale with mid (high to some) range meal prices.

Anyway, I browsed the menu and of course I chose Michael's favorite meal.  No seriously it was Michael Jackson's favorite meal and if you are wondering how I know take a gander at this:

                                                                              See!  I told you!  ;)

I enjoyed my glass of red wine while waiting for the first course, which was a  mixed green salad, to arrive.




The salad was plated beautifully and the salad dressing( especially the yellowish colored dressing) was to die for. I've never had a salad plated this way and we assumed that we were to dip our salad in the dressing of our choice which is great for us dressing addicted gals who normally like our salads swimming in dressing.


The next course, of course was the appetizer which arguable may have been my favorite part of the meal. I chose the "Garlic Shrimps"( yes it said  "shrimps" with an "s" on the menu) 

It consisted of batter  fried shrimp tossed in a tangy garlic sauce topped with scallions. one word for this: DELICIOUS!!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also had some of the best Garlic Naan ever, I mean EVER!  This Naan absolutely melted in your mouth. Nothing but velvety, garlicky, goodness!

the flavors were sublime, so many different tastes unfolding on the tongue

Next, for the third course, I chose "Channa Masala", a vegetarian dish of chick peas cooked with onion, tomato and Indian spices.  Truth be told, I thought about skipping the vegetarian course..I know, I know, I'm such a bad "carnivore", but really  ordering chick peas at a restaurant?  Needless to say,  I ordered and was more than pleasantly surprised with this dish.

It was absolutely wonderful.  It had such great texture and was bursting with a myriad of exotic flavors  which were sublime...so many different tastes exploding on my tongue that left me with( sorry to sound so cliche') a party in my mouth.  I enjoyed this dish so much that me, miss Man, oops I mean meat eater here would definitely order this again.

Now on to the main course.  For this part of the meal I chose the Tandoori Salmon.

Other than  the salmon and what appeared to be another  full blown salad, I'm not  exactly sure what the other greens on the plate were...perhaps spinach?  It had a really weird texture, sort of like ummm..well I don't want to say mushy but an unusual texture for a leafy green vegetable. The texture felt as if it had been put through a food processor or pureed or something.

Again, delicious although I didn't much care for the sauce on the salmon but it was still quite tasty.

For the last course , I had the most wonderfully, mouth watering, jaw dropping, mouth-gasmic dessert ever!  It was  simply called "Magic Cube"


This delectably, sinful desert consisted of white and dark mousses(again from the menu) centered with liquor cherries and wrapped in a chocolate sheath.  I can't say anything else but WOW!



As this was my first experience with Indian food ( aside from Naan) I can say that I truly enjoyed my meal. I needed to expand my horizons as far as eating is concerned.  (hey, I want what I want).  Usually, when I'm out, I stick with the tried and true. I have things that I always get regardless of which restaurant I'm in.  This time, I made a concerted effort( with all of the restaurants I visited while in LA) to venture out of my comfort zone and choose a variety of foods that I, otherwise, would never think to try.  I'm so glad that I did.

If you're ever in the LA, stop by Chakra...Your taste buds will thank you for it!!







Getting it right
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i've become obsessed

I did a little grocery shopping yesterday ( trying to get a few last minute things for the Holiday.) Anyway ,as is the case with most grocery stores, they had a lady handing out samples of coffee.

Now I'm not what some would call a coffee drinker as days, weeks, even months can go by without me having a cup of coffee. I usually have to be in the mood for it and when I am I'll  drink it for a week or so and then I'm done.  I also tend to drink coffee  moreso for the cream..lol 

I absolutely love McDonalds coffee and the fact that they can add the cream and sugar for me is the beezzz kneezzz.  I hate  fiddling around with sugar packets and creamers which is also why I love their sweet tea.  it's already sweetened which is everything to me but anyway back to the sample lady.  I wasn't so much impressed with the coffee as I was with the coffee maker. 

She was using the Keruig  K-cup coffee maker.  I've seen these around for quite a while now and never had any interest in them.. my cousin was even telling me that she wanted to get one for her hubby for Christmas and even then, my interest was not peaked.  After speaking with the lady, I found out that not only can you brew coffee, but tea, hot chocolate, and apple cider as well  ~swoon~  I absolutely fell in love.  They were on sale for $99.00 plus she was offering coupons for an extra $10.00 off which is the cheapest I've seen anywhere but still  I talked myself out of getting it by asking myself how much would I really use it.  I always do that, talk myself out of buying things and then change my mind but when I go back to get it, it's usually gone and this time they only had one left so I know there is no point in me going back to purchase it.  Oh well...maybe it's for the best but since then, that  Keruig has entered my thoughts a zillion times since then.



Getting it right,

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My Mother..a Weightloss Saboteur?

 I have been feeling under the weather lately...when I was returning home from my  home town jaunt I had a slight sore throat which has since turned into a full blown cold complete with stuffy nose, incessant coughing, loss of voice ..the whole nine.  Despite my state I still managed to get in two workouts.  My mom and I were going shopping but she didn't want to go to the gym so she dropped me off and picked me up after she finished taking care of some business.

Anyway after my 35 minutes on the elliptical ( which was all I could handle) My mother wasn't there to pick me up yet so I went to the grocery store next door and picked up some  fresh black berries ( 2 packs for $1.00) and some turkey breast while it was on sale.  After numerous phone calls to my mother she finally returned to pick me up with my favorite sandwich ..complete with my favorite strawberry shortcake (home made and the whipped cream is to die for) in tow.

I told her now you know I just worked out and was met with the "well if you don't want it"  blah, blah, blah.

Now how in the heck am I supposed to resist that. I haven't quite gotten my motivation back..let alone willpower which is something that I just cannot seem to master.  Needless to say that sandwich and shortcake went in my belly along with excuses and promises to restart.

I don't know how to deal with this but I know she will not change so the answer lies with me.  I have to work on resisting temptation  when it comes to  what I deem to be her sabotaging tactics...  I don't think she does it intentionally but whatever the reason, I must resist.

Do you have diet/weightloss saboteurs in your family or is everyone supportive?  How do you handle them if you do?


Getting it right,

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I'm beginning to sound like a....

broken record with this weight loss thing.   I know I have fallen off the wagon more times than I can count but every time I restart, doesn't necessarily mean that I have fallen completely off track.  Most times it just means that I haven't been consistent with my working out..you know I may work out for a few days and then nothing for another few days...either way, I need to get it together.

I just returned home from my grandmother's funeral.  Yes, I lost my lovely grandmother and it hurts to know that I can't see or talk to her again ( until I make it to heaven myself) but I take comfort in knowing that she led a long, full and happy life and that she's in a better place.  Going home also allowed me to spend time with family and friends.  We were there to remember my grandmother but through our tears ( and believe me they were flowing and flowing and flowing) we also shared some laughs remembering the good times we had and just reminiscing. I'm so glad that my family is a close one.

While home, I was also reminded that I am the heaviest ( well not really the heaviest but close to it) one out of my cousins and friends.  I wasn't even thinking about my weight until I received a text from my cousin telling me that she felt like and I  quote "a big fat Oompa Loompa".  lol..  Needless to say, she and I decided that we would embark on this weight loss journey together.   We live in different states but we talk a lot and we can check in with one another from time to time..Also there's this competitive streak that refuses to have her lose weight while I'm still fat,  Nope...  not happening.  I already know that I can do it by my 20lb weight loss over the summer  and that was without changing my diet at all.  This time I'm going to work on that and see what I can do.

My grandparents wanted me, as well as some other family members, to lose weight and I know that I need to do it. So this time I will lose all of the weight I need to lose and then some. ( positive affirmations anyone?  lol)  Anyway my cousin has already started her quest.  She had me call QVC and order the stepmill ( or something like that ...it's this mini stepper with arm bands) for her so when she receives it she will be adding exercise to her routine.  She says she already started her diet so that means I need to get on the ball.


Getting it right,

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